NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

THE ENDING: DEAD END OR ‘THE END’?


  

Recently I saw a thriller at the theatre that ran from twist to turn. However, after the movie ended, the number one comment I heard from the exiting audience was how awful the ending was. While the movie is being lauded as being Oscar-worthy, my disappointment has deepened.  Why?

First the ending didn’t resolve the main conflict. A bad relationship remained bad. Neither of the main characters undertook a journey of discovery. Yes, layers were peeled off revealing who they were, but they never evolved. The characters at the end were who they were at the beginning of the movie, except the audience now knew who and what they were. The characters didn’t even appear to make a decision to stay the same, which may be more a hallmark of a literary work.

Although my personal preference are romances with the ‘happy ever after’ ending, I know that’s not necessarily true for other genres. However, so long as the internal conflict and motivation are spot on, I can accept the less than happy ending. Ultimately all the movie’s twists and turns may have kept the audience guessing, but for me they didn’t lead to lessons learned and the conflict resolved.

So what makes a good ending?  Here are my thoughts.

First, ask what is the main conflict? Not every issue or subplot has to be tied up in a neat bow by the conclusion, but the main conflict does.

The foundation for the resolution must be referenced or foreshadowed earlier in the story. No new characters should be introduced in the last moments.  The protagonist should apply what has been learned to defeat the external conflict and thus earn the right to be the ‘hero’.  Even if the hero loses, he’s still learned a lesson and hopefully will move forward.

Respect the reader. Don’t get lazy. They’ve stayed with you throughout the story’s journey. If the milestones have been laid out with solid dramatic questions, the ending should be organic and satisfying rather than yet another manufactured twist that comes out of the blue.  Leaving a question for a reader to ponder is good. Surprise endings are great, but they must feel right, natural. The reader’s reaction may be at first, “I didn’t see that coming’’, but with reflection she/he will realize the skilled author has woven the references throughout the story.

This leads me to ask: What was one of your favorite endings to either a movie or book and why?





J Carol Stephenson

Justice At All Costs


 

 



 

 

5 comments:

Anne Marie Becker said...

I'm not sure if I'm thinking of the same movie/book, but I remember being so frustrated with the ending of the book. But when I saw the movie, it didn't bug me so badly. I think I'd come to terms with the fact that this "here we are, back at Square One" ending was kind of what the characters deserved for NOT growing. It made sense, in a way. Still not satisfying for the viewer/reader, but I'm at peace with it now. LOL

Rita said...

If you are talking about GG I HATED the book. I skipped more than I read and won't give my money to see the movie. It was mean people doing mean things and keeping on doing it. A perfect Literary novel. Ugg. I love having evil doers in a book but I want them to get their come uppins before the book ends.


jean harrington said...

Carol, How about a twist on your question? The movie/book with the worst ending I've ever encountered was Rebecca--Daphne DuMaurier's highly acclaimed classic. When I first read the book and came to the end, I thought pages were missing. (Not quite an answer to your question, but I couldn't resist the temptation to "innovate."

J Wachowski said...

Gosh, I WONDER what movie you're talking about? (wide eyes: blink...blink...blink)

Yeah.

What up with that?

I figured the author was trying to create a change in the reader. Not her characters. And the change was....I am now annoyed.

Carol Stephenson said...

Jean, in answer to the twist on the question, I'll have to go with the recent movie. There was one book that I threw against the wall I was so disgusted with it, but since I never read another book by the author, I can't think of it.

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